Wells girls basketball looking to build strong tradition

Mike Smith

Thursday

Feb 28, 2008 at 2:00 AM

They are making themselves known around this part of the state as the scrappy little team that no one wants to face. And that 'label' continues to be true regarding the Wells girls' basketball team which took three-time defending champion Lake Region to the wire before falling, 50-43, in the quarterfinal round of the Western Maine Class B tournament.

They are making themselves known around this part of the state as the scrappy little team that no one wants to face. And that 'label' continues to be true regarding the Wells girls' basketball team which took three-time defending champion Lake Region to the wire before falling, 50-43, in the quarterfinal round of the Western Maine Class B tournament.

But even that loss couldn't dampen what was an encouraging season for the Warriors who finished the season with a 9-11 mark, the No. 9 seed, and a 50-47 overtime victory over eighth-seeded Lisbon in the opening round of the tourney.

After graduating five players including four starters from the 2006-2007 team, Wells suffered some of those pains of inexperience. Of its 11 losses this season, six were by single digits, including four by five points or less.

Wells coach Don Abbott, who was completing his second season as the girls' varsity coach, could not have been prouder of the effort put forth by his players this season and in the quarterfinal loss to eventual champion Lake Region.

"As a coach you always want to win," Abbott said, "but that game against Lake Region was definitely a step forward for our program. We acquitted ourselves well. It was a hard fought game. They were sort of like the slugger and we counter-punched all night and hung around. We answered every run they had except the last one.

"If you told me that we'd have a lead with a minute left in the third, on the three-time Western Maine finalist...; well that's all you can ask for," Abbott said. "We put ourselves in position to win."

Wells had a 31-30 lead when junior Brooke Stevens hit a foul-line jumper with 1:19 left in the third, only to be countered by a 3-point shot by Lake Region's Meghan Craffey.

"We stayed with them," Abbott said, "but they (Lake Region) extended it in the fourth. They made their free throws down the stretch. In the past two years, we're looking at two appearances in Portland. When we took over, we set a goal to be a tournament team every year and we're headed in that direction. The next step is to get a win up there. We're happy where we are and the foundation has been laid. The future looks bright."

While the future is bright, Wells will have to deal with the graduation loss of four of its members including three starters in co-captains Megan Blier (point guard) and Alana Kelley (forward/center). Forward Casey Gregoire is also graduating as is Aliza Van Shaack, who suffered a torn meniscus and missed the entire season.

"We had great senior leadership," Abbott said. "Those seniors have been great leaders both on and off the court. Every year there is a void to be filled. Senior leadership is a good thing but it does leave a void. We lost seniors last year and these kids did a great job this year. Next year we have the quality people to step up."

Expected to return next season is Stevens, the junior guard who averaged 16½ points per game this season and a second-team Western Maine Class B all star. Also expected back is Sarah Quint, a junior guard who averaged 5½ points and nailed a 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation, sending the opening round playoff game against Lisbon into overtime.

"We have good momentum going forward," Abbott said. "We were young this year after losing four senior starters from last year. We had some good wins and some near misses against some of the top teams in the league, including a two-point loss at York. Last year we were 10-8 and won a couple of those close ones last year. You can attribute those close losses this year a little to our youth early on, learning how to win and get over the hump, and seal the deal.

"We are starting to establish ourselves as a spunky team around .500 who will play hard every night," Abbott said. "I feel we have enough talent coming back to beat one of the top teams in our league on a given night, but we are still searching for that first big signature win. The Lake Region game was a pretty good statement. We took the best team in league down to wire."

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